Cabrera wins AL MVP, calls Trout 'best in the league'

Miguel Cabrera might have joined an exclusive club by winning back-to-back American League MVP awards, but the Detroit Tigers’ slugger showed an appreciation for runner-up Mike Trout.

“He’s great,” Cabrera said. “By far he’s the best player in the league. He’s got everything. Being compared with a guy that age is unbelievable.”

Trout, 22, the Angels’ superstar outfielder, finished second to Cabrera for a second consecutive season in the MVP race.

Meanwhile, Andrew McCutchen took the MVP award in the National League, moving up from his third-place finish a year ago. McCutchen was the first Pittsburgh Pirate to win the award since Barry Bonds in 1992, which was also the last time the Pirates went to the postseason before this year.

The Angels’ failure to reach the playoffs, or even contend, no doubt hurt Trout’s chances at the award, despite pleas from a growing number of analysts that team performance should not weigh in the MVP voting.

Trout received five first-place votes – one fewer than last year – from the 30 voters, two representing each American League city. Cabrera got 23 votes. Third-place finisher Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles and fourth-place finisher Josh Donaldson of the Oakland A’s each got one vote.

Trout’s first-place votes came from Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com, Joe Posnanski of NBC Sports, Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports and Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star.

Trout followed up his Rookie of the Year season in 2012 by hitting .323 with 27 homers and 97 RBI in 2013. He led the league with 110 walks and 109 runs.

It was not enough to unseat Cabrera, who improved most of his numbers in 2013 even though he didn’t win another Triple Crown. Cabrera led the league with a .348 average, .442 on-base percentage and .636 slugging percentage. He was second with 44 homers and 137 RBI, finishing behind Davis in both categories.

Cabrera became the 13th player to win the award at least two years in a row, including Bonds, who won four in a row. Albert Pujols was the last repeat winner, in 2008 and 2009.

Trout also joined a select group. He’s only the 12th player to finish second in the MVP race in consecutive seasons.

In the National League, the race between McCutchen, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina and Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt turned out to be not as close as expected.

McCutchen took 28 of 30 first-place votes, with the other two going to Molina. Goldschmidt finished second overall by virtue of being named in the top three on 12 more ballots than Molina.

McCutchen hit .317 with 21 homers and 84 RBI, leading the Pirates to their first winning season in 21 years.

“To think about going from there to where we are now, it’s going to take some time to even think about that,” McCutchen said. “To see the change for myself and the team … It means a lot to this city. I’m happy to be a part of that.”